Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
Encyclopedia
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988) is a 47-minute documentary film
about the introduction of Cane Toads to Australia. Cane Toad
s were introduced to Australia with the aim of controlling a sugar cane pest, but they over-multiplied and became a serious problem in the Australian ecosystem
. It is often humorous, and is used in high school
s and colleges as a complement to curricula in biology
, ecology
, environmental science
, anthropology
, geography
, and communication
. It was filmed in Cairns
and Gordonvale
in Queensland.
The film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award
for Best Short Film. It is distributed in the United States
by Radio Pictures.
For almost 20 years Cane Toads: An Unnatural History held the title of top grossing non-IMAX documentary for the Australian box office. Released in March 1988, it is recording as bringing in $613,910 Australian dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
Director Mark Lewis' first encounter with the cane toad happened when he was in his late teens, according to Lewis' essay "The Making - and the Meaning - of 'Cane Toads: The Conquest.'" It was only later, when he was working at the Australian Broadcasting Company that he began collecting newspaper clippings about the cane toads’ heading towards the south. “It struck me as an odd and fascinating story…Over the years I became fascinated by the inconsistent stories, folklore, and myths that I encountered about the cane toad," Lewis wrote. As for the final product, Lewis said, "We tried to tell much of the story from the cane toads’ point of view, using exceptionally low camera angles – in effect, giving a voice to this animal that couldn’t speak for itself yet was at the center of so much controversy. My goal was to create some sympathy for this animal that was so widely reviled.”
A sequel called Cane Toads: The Conquest premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. A completely new feature, almost twice as long as the first film, it is said to be the first Australian 3D digital film. In the years since the first film, the cane toad "multiplied alarmingly" to become a "seemingly unstoppable menace". The sequel/remake was released in Sydney
in June 2011.
Both films were written and directed by Mark Lewis
. Their cultural impact and moral complexity were explored in an essay by Elizabeth Farrelly
.
One of the film’s aesthetic and storytelling “innovations” was to try and tell much of the story from the cane toads’ point of view. This was achieved by a number of extremely low angle shots. Lewis’ goal was to give a voice to the toads who were at the center of so much controversy, and “create some sympathy for this animal that was so widely reviled”.
In addition to the unique toad’s point-of-view, there were other challenges with portraying the toads as a lead character. The cameraman for Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, Jim Frazier, also shot for British naturalist David Attenborough and Australian Densey Clyne. He was familiar with the frustrations and limitations with nature photography and developed a set of lenses with exceptional depth of focus, allowing the camera to be extraordinarily close and focused on the toad subjects while also maintaining focus on other objects much deeper in the frame. This lens system later gave rise to what is known as the Panavision/Frazier lens system, which provides massive depth of field. Frazier’s lens was patented in 1998 and has been widely used in Hollywood and wildlife cinematography. This depth of field is something we now take for granted and this level of craft may not be not something the average viewer is conscious of while viewing; in a large part because it is more like our own eyes. It does however remove any cinematic qualities that result from conventional shallow depth of focus, and thus removes one more barrier between the audience and the toad’s perspective. This was a technical choice and innovation that furthered Lewis’ vision.
Inspired by the Australian media's portrayal of the cane toad infestation as an "alien invasion," Lewis said, “I found myself playing off the conventions of the horror movie – for example, with a shower scene stylistically reminiscent of Psycho. That was a result of not just my sense of humor but also of the nature of the media coverage that the cane toad receives.”
The use of sardonic and deadpan humor and parody and a diverse cast of absurd characters are traits that other documentary films have incorporated, but few within the subgenre of nature documentary. Lewis’s own later documentaries remain the best examples. He is not without influence however; German director Werner Herzog described his nature documentary Encounters at the End of the World (2008) as ‘a comedy’. Herzog is often cited as being a fan of Cane Toads and one Internet database lists it as his number one favorite film. The influence is evident in Encounters, which is a movie about Antarctica that doesn’t focus just on penguins and cold weather but includes all of the diverse people who work there and the absurd situations that arise. Herzog’s presence however is felt in the film and he offers commentary throughout. Humor without hosting remains one of Lewis’s admirable hallmarks in the documentary world.
Unusual for a film considered a cult classic, Cane Toads preformed very well during its theatrical release. For almost 20 years Cane Toads: An Unnatural History held the title of top grossing non-IMAX documentary for the Australian box office. It remains easily in the top ten today even with the IMAX films included. Released in March 1988, it is recording as bringing in $613,910 Australian dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the introduction of Cane Toads to Australia. Cane Toad
Cane Toad
The Cane Toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad which is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean...
s were introduced to Australia with the aim of controlling a sugar cane pest, but they over-multiplied and became a serious problem in the Australian ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. It is often humorous, and is used in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s and colleges as a complement to curricula in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, environmental science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
, anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, and communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
. It was filmed in Cairns
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
and Gordonvale
Gordonvale, Queensland
Gordonvale is a small sugar-growing suburb situated in the southern end of Cairns on the Mulgrave River. At the 2006 census, Gordonvale had a population of 4,420....
in Queensland.
The film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
for Best Short Film. It is distributed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Radio Pictures.
For almost 20 years Cane Toads: An Unnatural History held the title of top grossing non-IMAX documentary for the Australian box office. Released in March 1988, it is recording as bringing in $613,910 Australian dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
Director Mark Lewis' first encounter with the cane toad happened when he was in his late teens, according to Lewis' essay "The Making - and the Meaning - of 'Cane Toads: The Conquest.'" It was only later, when he was working at the Australian Broadcasting Company that he began collecting newspaper clippings about the cane toads’ heading towards the south. “It struck me as an odd and fascinating story…Over the years I became fascinated by the inconsistent stories, folklore, and myths that I encountered about the cane toad," Lewis wrote. As for the final product, Lewis said, "We tried to tell much of the story from the cane toads’ point of view, using exceptionally low camera angles – in effect, giving a voice to this animal that couldn’t speak for itself yet was at the center of so much controversy. My goal was to create some sympathy for this animal that was so widely reviled.”
A sequel called Cane Toads: The Conquest premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. A completely new feature, almost twice as long as the first film, it is said to be the first Australian 3D digital film. In the years since the first film, the cane toad "multiplied alarmingly" to become a "seemingly unstoppable menace". The sequel/remake was released in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in June 2011.
Both films were written and directed by Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis (filmmaker)
Mark Lewis is a documentary film and television producer, director and writer. He is famous for his film Cane Toads: An Unnatural History and for his body of work on animals...
. Their cultural impact and moral complexity were explored in an essay by Elizabeth Farrelly
Elizabeth Farrelly
Elizabeth Margaret Farrelly is a Sydney-based author, architecture critic, essayist, columnist and speaker who contributes tocurrent debates about aesthetics, design, public art, architecture and urban environments...
.
One of the film’s aesthetic and storytelling “innovations” was to try and tell much of the story from the cane toads’ point of view. This was achieved by a number of extremely low angle shots. Lewis’ goal was to give a voice to the toads who were at the center of so much controversy, and “create some sympathy for this animal that was so widely reviled”.
In addition to the unique toad’s point-of-view, there were other challenges with portraying the toads as a lead character. The cameraman for Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, Jim Frazier, also shot for British naturalist David Attenborough and Australian Densey Clyne. He was familiar with the frustrations and limitations with nature photography and developed a set of lenses with exceptional depth of focus, allowing the camera to be extraordinarily close and focused on the toad subjects while also maintaining focus on other objects much deeper in the frame. This lens system later gave rise to what is known as the Panavision/Frazier lens system, which provides massive depth of field. Frazier’s lens was patented in 1998 and has been widely used in Hollywood and wildlife cinematography. This depth of field is something we now take for granted and this level of craft may not be not something the average viewer is conscious of while viewing; in a large part because it is more like our own eyes. It does however remove any cinematic qualities that result from conventional shallow depth of focus, and thus removes one more barrier between the audience and the toad’s perspective. This was a technical choice and innovation that furthered Lewis’ vision.
Inspired by the Australian media's portrayal of the cane toad infestation as an "alien invasion," Lewis said, “I found myself playing off the conventions of the horror movie – for example, with a shower scene stylistically reminiscent of Psycho. That was a result of not just my sense of humor but also of the nature of the media coverage that the cane toad receives.”
The use of sardonic and deadpan humor and parody and a diverse cast of absurd characters are traits that other documentary films have incorporated, but few within the subgenre of nature documentary. Lewis’s own later documentaries remain the best examples. He is not without influence however; German director Werner Herzog described his nature documentary Encounters at the End of the World (2008) as ‘a comedy’. Herzog is often cited as being a fan of Cane Toads and one Internet database lists it as his number one favorite film. The influence is evident in Encounters, which is a movie about Antarctica that doesn’t focus just on penguins and cold weather but includes all of the diverse people who work there and the absurd situations that arise. Herzog’s presence however is felt in the film and he offers commentary throughout. Humor without hosting remains one of Lewis’s admirable hallmarks in the documentary world.
Unusual for a film considered a cult classic, Cane Toads preformed very well during its theatrical release. For almost 20 years Cane Toads: An Unnatural History held the title of top grossing non-IMAX documentary for the Australian box office. It remains easily in the top ten today even with the IMAX films included. Released in March 1988, it is recording as bringing in $613,910 Australian dollars (not adjusted for inflation).